Nico Santos (actor)

Nico Santos
OccupationsActor and comedian
Years active2013–present
Spouse
Zeke Smith
​
(m. 2023)​

Nico Santos is a Filipino-American actor and comedian[1] known for portraying Oliver T'sien in Crazy Rich Asians and sales associate Mateo Liwanag in the NBC series Superstore.[2][3] For the latter, Santos was twice consecutively nominated for the Critics' Choice Television Award for Best Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series.[4]

Early life

Santos was born in Manila, Philippines. Santos moved with his family to the United States when he was sixteen, settling in Gresham, Oregon. He and his brother attended Gresham's Centennial High School. In his junior year, he attended the Oregon Shakespeare Festival's summer seminar for high school students, where he discovered his love for theater.[5]

Santos attended Southern Oregon University because of its proximity to the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. He studied acting there before switching to costume design due to discouraging remarks from his acting teacher.[5] He came out as gay, his family refused to continue paying for his education, and he dropped out.[5]

Career

Santos worked for several years in the costume department as a dresser at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival.[5]

In 2001, he moved to San Francisco, where he worked at various luxury retail stores in Union Square for eight years while doing comedy, often going to open mics after work.[5][6] He later moved to Los Angeles in pursuit of a stand-up career, but found it difficult to advance due to comedy club politics.[6]

In 2012, he started appearing regularly on Chelsea Lately, a late-night talk show, as a panelist; he also worked as a restaurant host.[7][8]

Santos shifted back to acting in 2014. He landed a spot as a writer in the annual CBS Diversity Showcase, which is presented to a agents, casting directors, and other industry professionals. He did some acting after another Asian actor dropped out.

This got him invited to more auditions.[9] In fall 2015, he debuted on the NBC comedy television show Superstore[6], playing Mateo Liwanag, a gay, undocumented Filipino,[7] often mistaken as Mexican,[10][11] retail store associate.[12]

Santos performed at the Bridgetown Comedy Festival in 2017.[5]

He had a supporting role, Oliver, in the 2018 romantic comedy Crazy Rich Asians.[13]

In spring 2019, Santos appeared in the Off-Broadway play Happy Talk, written by Jesse Eisenberg and directed by Scott Elliott.[14]

In June 2022, Santos was cast in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3[15] as Recorder Theel.

Personal life

Santos is gay[3] and married to Zeke Smith,[16][17] who participated on the 33rd (Millennials vs. Gen X) and 34th (Game Changers) editions of the CBS reality game show Survivor.[17]

The couple met in April 2018 at the GLAAD Media Awards. Queerty named Santos one of the Pride50 "trailblazing individuals who actively ensure society remains moving towards equality, acceptance and dignity for all queer people."[18]

Santos's parents were undocumented before becoming citizens. Santos's mother is supportive of his career and has often attended his open-mic performances.[6]

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Santos' mother and stepfather contracted the virus. His stepfather died while his mother recovered.[19]

Filmography

Key
† Denotes works that have not yet been released
Film
Year Title Role Notes
2015 Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2 Heath
2017 The Clapper Buffet Person
2018 Crazy Rich Asians Oliver T'sien
2021 Wish Dragon Buckley (voice)
2023 Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 Recorder Theel
Happiness for Beginners Hugh
The Re-Education of Molly Singer Pauly
2026 Roommates Professor Carasco
Television
Year Title Role Notes
2012-2013 Chelsea Lately Himself Talk Show Roundtable
2014 Ground Floor Airline Attendant Episode: "The Decision: Part Two"
Go-Go Boy Interrupted Nick 4 Episodes
2 Broke Girls Barry Episode: "And a Loan for Christmas"
2015–2021 Superstore Mateo Fernando Aquino Liwanag Main Role, 113 episodes;
Critics' Choice Television Award for Best Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series (2018, 2019)
2016 Noches con Platanito Himself Episode: "Lauren Ash/Nico Santos/Damiana Villa/Carlie Craig/Voces del Rancho"
2019-2020 25 Words or Less 6 episodes
2020 A Little Late with Lilly Singh Episode: "Nico Santos, Sabrina Jalees"
2020-2021 The Kelly Clarkson Show 2 episodes
2021 The Prince Robert (voice) 2 episodes
2022 Tuca & Bertie Jamie (voice) 2 episodes
2023 The Muppets Mayhem Jackson Cannery Episode: "Track 10: We Will Rock You"
Hailey's On It! Jonathan (voice) Recurring role
Is It Cake? Himself Episode: "Body By Cake"
The Boss Baby: Back in the Crib Banker Baby Benny 6 episodes
2024 Not Dead Yet Teddy Thompson Episode: "Not Owning it Yet"
After Midnight Himself Episode: "Billy Eichner, Nico Santos, Pete Holmes"
2024-25 St. Denis Medical Rene 2 episodes
2025 Night Court Dr. Nitelife Season 3 episode 9 "Ab-ventures in Babysitting"
The Z-Suite Doug 8 episodes
Krapopolis Mangela (voice) Episode: “Nike (The Goddness)”

References

  1. ↑ Chavez, Yong. "Pinoy comedian part of new NBC show 'Superstore'". ABS-CBN News. Archived from the original on November 6, 2021. Retrieved December 7, 2018.
  2. ↑ Webber, Stephanie (October 5, 2017). "Superstore's Nico Santos: Mateo Would Drive Me Nuts in Real Life". Us Weekly. Archived from the original on November 5, 2021. Retrieved January 2, 2018.
  3. 1 2 Ermac, Raffy (September 21, 2016). "'Superstore's' Nico Santos Wants You to Know Diversity on TV Is Important". pride.com. Archived from the original on November 3, 2021. Retrieved December 7, 2018.
  4. ↑ Hammond, Pete (December 10, 2018). "Critics' Choice Awards Nominations: 'The Favourite' Tops with 14, 'Black Panther' A Marvel, 'First Man' Rebounds; 'The Americans' Leads TV Series". Deadline. Archived from the original on December 10, 2018. Retrieved December 10, 2018.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "How Nico Santos went from a Gresham 'band of freaks' to NBC and comedy". The Oregonian. April 22, 2017.
  6. 1 2 3 4 Jung, E. Alex (January 10, 2018). "Nico Santos on His Superstore Breakthrough and Crazy Rich Asians". Vulture. Archived from the original on November 5, 2021. Retrieved January 7, 2020.
  7. 1 2 Nico Santos on 'Hitting The Lottery' with 'Superstore' & 'Crazy Rich Asians' Sequel | In Studio, January 7, 2020, retrieved January 7, 2020
  8. ↑ Lambe, Stacy (March 8, 2018). "'Superstore' Scene-Stealer Nico Santos Proves He's More Than a Shady Queen (Exclusive)". Entertainment Tonight. Archived from the original on December 29, 2018. Retrieved January 7, 2020.
  9. ↑ Fernandez, Maria Elena (November 10, 2017). "CBS Diversity Showcase Was a Racist, Homophobic Mess for Years, Participants Say". Vulture. Archived from the original on November 5, 2021. Retrieved January 7, 2020.
  10. ↑ "Magazine Profile". Superstore. Season 1. Episode 2. November 30, 2015. NBC.
  11. ↑ "Shots and Salsa". Superstore. Season 1. Episode 3. December 28, 2015. NBC.
  12. ↑ Lowry, Brian (November 24, 2015). "TV Review: 'Superstore'". Variety. Archived from the original on November 5, 2021. Retrieved January 7, 2020.
  13. ↑ N'Duka, Amanda (May 16, 2017). "'Superstore's Nico Santos Boards 'Crazy Rich Asians'". Archived from the original on November 5, 2021. Retrieved December 7, 2018.
  14. ↑ Clement, Olivia (March 27, 2019). "Crazy Rich Asians' Nico Santos Joins Susan Sarandon and Marin Ireland in Jesse Eisenberg's Happy Talk". Playbill. Archived from the original on November 5, 2021. Retrieved January 7, 2020.
  15. ↑ Wiseman, Andreas (June 14, 2022). "'Crazy Rich Asians' & 'Superstore' Actor Nico Santos Joins 'Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 3'". Deadline. Archived from the original on June 14, 2022. Retrieved June 14, 2022.
  16. ↑ Santos, Nico [@nicosantos]; (February 14, 2022). "I feel so lucky I get to kiss this man..." – via Instagram.
  17. 1 2 Greene, Jordan (November 6, 2023). "Nico Santos and Zeke Smith Are Married! Inside Their 'Silly, Bougie' Wedding in Palm Springs (Exclusive)". People. Archived from the original on November 6, 2023. Retrieved November 6, 2023.
  18. ↑ "Queerty Pride50 2019 Honorees". Queerty. Archived from the original on August 26, 2019. Retrieved June 18, 2019.
  19. ↑ Malkin, Marc (April 24, 2020). "'Superstore' Star Nico Santos Remembers Stepfather Who Died of COVID-19". Variety. Archived from the original on May 29, 2020. Retrieved May 30, 2020.
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